Imperfection is perfection
by Cookiecuttersaint
Summary: Eleanor returns home after being hospitalized for 5 years because of a mental disorder only to get thrust into the supernatural drama that surrounds her uncles Damon and Stefan Salvator. What happens when a certain original takes interest in her? And what is really wrong with her? Is it really a mental illness or maybe something else?
1. Chapter 1

Trees after trees were flying past the cab, but the girl in the passenger seat had no eyes for the forest scenery they were driving through. She was watching the water droplets running down the passenger side window. It stopped raining a while ago, but the windows were still wet and the remaining droplets managed to catch all of her attention. She enjoyed the quiet. At first the cab driver had tried to make conversation. Though shortly after their departure he gave up on his mission to entertain his young passenger, discouraged by her lack of response. She wasn't up for small talk, she was worried. And whenever she was worried she got easily lost in her own head. The cab driver had no choice but to accept the quiet even though he was worried it would affect his tip at the end of the trip, which they were fast approaching. Although the girl was oblivious they just passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. A few more minutes and they would reach their destination.

The girl was brought out of her thoughts once they turned into the driveway of a large old building and the cab came to a stop. "Here we are, miss." the driver announced. She blinked a couple times, bringing her back into reality while she reached for her purse to pay for the trip. They both got out of the car and the driver hurriedly unloaded her bags from the trunk, placing them near the massive dark wooden entrance door to the building.

The teenager stretched her tired limbs and watched the cab reverse down the driveway and disappear around the corner. She sighed quietly before she turned around and took a few hesitant steps towards the door. It had been five years since she'd last seen this place and yet nothing has changed. The house, the gravel driveway and the plants decorating the path towards the entrance still were the same. Even the old-fashioned bell at the door hasn't changed. How would her uncle react to her unexpected arrival? She began to doubt her decision not to inform him beforehand. It wasn't polite. She was basically going to ambush him, but at the time that seemed like the smart thing to do. Too big was her fear that he would turn her down. That he wouldn't want her here and would find an excuse to send her elsewhere. But what was to stop him from doing so now? He could easily send her away again. For the same reason he did so all those years ago. It was too troublesome to take care of her. What with all her issues, not to mention _the incident_ that triggered his decision to have her hospitalized in the first place. Maybe if she called and informed him before making the trip here it would have saved her the heartache of seeing the rejecting on his face...

However it was too late now. She was here and her means of transportation was well out of sight. She had no choice now other than to go through with it. She took a deep breath, straightened her posture and took the remaining steps towards the door.

Just as she was about to ring the ancient bell the door opened and her breath caught in her throat. A young man stepped out, obviously surprised by someone standing on his doorstep. She rushed back a few steps almost tripping over her own feet. "Uncle Stefan..." she wheezed out breathlessly, her ice blue eyes wide with fear. Her pulse sped up and her heart audibly pounded in her chest. She was terrified by the sight in front of her.

She had always been afraid of her uncle Stefan. Despite his reassurances that he wasn't going to hurt her and his tame lifestyle. No amount of promises could convince her that he was harmless. She _knew_ that wasn't true. She _knew_ it was all an act and that something dark and dangerous was hidden under the calm and friendly demeanor. Despite all his efforts during her childhood to ease her worries she never warmed up to him.

The boy stared at the younger girl, speechless for a moment. He composed himself quickly and attempted to question her. "What..." But in that moment another figure appeared in the doorway. The man froze in surprise just beyond the threshold at the sight of the dark haired girl. "Nora?" He questioned, not believing his eyes.

The girl's demeanor however changed immediately. She breathed a sigh of relieve and launched herself at the older man. "Uncle Damon!" she called out joyously as she threw her arms around him in a hug. Forgotten was the fear of the blond younger brother. Opposite to her fear for the younger vampire and despite of Damon's unstable nature she has never been afraid of him. She loved him from the first time she laid eyes on him as a toddler. Not even finding out about his bloodsucking undead nature could faze her trust in him and while Damon acted cold and uncaring towards everyone else, he always had a special place for the young girl in his heart. Never did it even occur to him to lay a harming hand on her. Instead he made an effort to spend time with her, play silly games with her as she was just a toddler and take her on exciting roadtrips when she grew older.

Damon was stunned for a heartbeat, not expecting the attack. But he recovered quickly and threw his arms around her, returning the hug. "Nora..." he breathed and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" "I took a cab." she responded not letting go of him. The dark haired man chuckled lowly. "That doesn't explain a thing, girly. Come on in." He released her from his hug and ushered her further in the house and into the spacious parlor.

She followed him in all the while inspecting her surroundings curiously. Everything looked exactly the same as she remembered it. "I'm all better" she announced as she flopped down on one of the old fashioned sofas. "Where is uncle Zach?".

Damon and Stefan, who had followed them back into the room, exchanged a worried glance behind her back. "He is not here" the younger man finally answered taking a few steps closer to the sofa where the girl was getting comfortable. She eyed him wearily making him stop a good distance away from her. "Well, I can see that. Where is he?" With a cautious glance back at his brother he explained "Zach had to leave on a business trip. He's been gone for a while now and we aren't expecting him back any time soon." The girl crunched her nose up, a frown making it's way to her forehead. This caused Stefan to sigh. "What are you doing here, Eleanor?". "Not that we don't want you here" Damon interrupted as he sat down next to the girl. "It's just that we weren't expecting you. You know how to use a phone, don't you, kid?" he questioned with a lifted eyebrow and gave her a lopsided smile.

This caused a giggle from her. "Of course I do, uncle Damon. Unlike you, when I was born the phone was already invented." Damon scoffed at the jab at his age. "I'm not that old." She grinned at him before exhaling slowly. Her face grew serious again. "I'm all better. They released me to go live with my family again. As long as I keep taking my medication and see a doctor once a month I should be okay." she explained. At that a smirk grew on Damon's face and he threw an arm around her pulling her close to him. "That's great news. We are happy to have you here, right Stefan?" he challenged his younger brother to disagree. "Of course we are." Stefan quickly agreed "But..." Before he could voice his objection footsteps coming down the large staircase to the upper floor could be heard and three pairs of eyes looked up at the noise.

A brown haired, slender girl descended the steps and stopped on the last stair when she saw the girl sitting on a couch surrounded by the brothers. "Stefan?" she asked wearily. "Who is this?" The boy in question attempted to respond, but Damon beat him to the answer. "This, dear Elena, is our lovely great great...some greats removed niece Eleanor. She just returned home. Nora, this is Stefan's girlfriend Elena who lives with us for the time being." he gestured between the two women making the introduction.

Elena frowned while she looked the young girl over. The resemblance to Damon was uncanny. The two could be siblings. Both had the same jet black hair and ice blue eyes, the same sharp nose and defined jawline, even though Eleanor's was much more feminine and soft. The girl's hair fell down to her waist in soft, natural waves and even though Damon wore his hair short you could tell that he had the same natural waves as her. While Damon looked tall and muscular, the girl had a tiny figure. She couldn't be taller than 5'8 and was slender, thin even. A few more pounds on her ribs sure wouldn't hurt Elena deduced. Despite the differences to their figures there was something similar in the way they both held themselves, a certain confidence.

Eleanor smiled shyly wiggling her fingers in an awkward wave at the older girl. Elena's responding smile looked forced as she continued to question her boyfriend. "Returned home? What does that mean? You never mentioned a nice, Stefan. What's going on?". The boy in question looked increasingly uncomfortable. His gaze rapidly switched from his brother and niece to his suspicious girlfriend. "Eleanor is... She was hospitalized because she was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years ago. We haven't seen her since then." he hesitantly explained, but Damon interrupted his arm still firmly around Eleanor's shoulders. "Ah ah ah, brother. _You_ haven't seen her since then. _I_ visited her several times during her stay at that god forsaken place." Stefan was surprised at that revelation from his seemingly emotionless older brother. "You did?" Damon scoffed at that, raising from his seat to fix himself a drink. "Of course I did. Bad enough that she had to stay at that place away from family. Visiting her every so often was the least I could do."

Both his brother and Elena stared at Damon blankly for a moment, neither of them expecting this much compassion from him. Elena was the first to compose herself. "Well, Eleanor, it's nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to get to know you, but you have to excuse us for now. Stefan and I have to go to school." And with that she grabbed her boyfriend's hand and pulled him towards the hall and out the house.

Once the two were gone Eleanor rose from the couch. "I'm going to my room" she announced "I'm kinda tired." With that she ascended the stairs towards the left wing of the boarding house where her old childhood room resided. Damon nodded after her. "Sure, make yourself at home again. I'll get your bags." Left alone in the living room he took a large gulp from his drink staring idly at the staircase. His niece was home. Sure, he was happy about that, but it wasn't the most convenient time for her arrival. What with the impending threat on Elena's life; not to mention that Zach – the girl's real uncle and guardian – was dead and not on a business trip like they claimed. By his own hands, no less. He could only hope that all the drama in his and Stefan's life wouldn't put her fragile health at risk. He emptied his glass with a sigh and made his way to the door to fetch the bags left in the driveway to bring them up to her room. There was no use in worrying. She was here now and they would have to make do.

Oblivious to her uncle's revery Eleanor looked around in her room. This too, as the rest of the house, looked exactly the same as she remembered it. From the light purple walls to her books on the shelves and even her teddybear laying on the quilt on her bed as if it was waiting for her. She let herself fall back on the bed closing her eyes and hugging the old stuffed toy to her chest. Finally home, finally away from the dreaded hospital she had to spend five years of her life at. She was thrilled to be home, but she couldn't fight the feeling that something was off here. Something wasn't right. At the mention of her uncle Zach's whereabouts the whispers in her head had started. At Elena's appearance the voices in her head went rampant. Whispering things in her ear, nudging her to question it further, but she ignored the voices. She didn't want to listen to them anymore. Bad enough that she couldn't seem to get rid of them, no matter how many pills the doctors made her swallow or what the psychologists told her in the endless hours of therapy.

She didn't react to Damon coming in to place her bags on the floor. Only once the door clicked shut behind him again did she get up to start unpacking her clothes. She would find out what was wrong here of that she was sure and for the time being she would do her best to hide the fact that she still heard voices in her head. She would prove to everyone...no, to herself that she could live a normal life, that the voices didn't hold any power over her and her decisions anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

While Eleanor spent her morning with unpacking and reacquainting herself with her new old home, Elena interrogated her boyfriend about the newest addition to the family as soon as they were in the car.

"So Eleanor is your niece? Why did you never mention her when we talked about your family?" She couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. They weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other, not with everything they have been through since the vampire came into her life. And a living breathing relative seemed important to the doppelganger. He shouldn't have kept information about the girl's existence from her, she deserved to know.

Stefan could tell from the tone of his girlfriend's voice that she wasn't happy with him at the moment. "Elena" he began cautiously "I didn't mean to keep this from you, but I didn't expect you to ever meet her. Eleanor has been hospitalized for five years and was ill long before that. Probably since early childhood. She wasn't supposed to return this soon, maybe not ever."

Elena pursed her lips, still not satisfied with this explanation so he hurriedly added "Besides, she is not really Damon's and my niece. She is Zach's niece. We are her great great and then some great uncles. I only met her a few times in her life and only found out about her whereabouts when I returned to Mystic Falls the previous summer."

"Damon was in contact." his girlfriend objected to which he could only shrug. "So he says."

They were both silent for a moment when another thought occurred to Elena. "She seemed afraid of you. Why's that?"

"She knows about us. Has for a long time. She learnt about the supernatural when she was very young. She knows that I'm a vampire and about everything that comes with it."

Elena frowned. "She seemed awfully cozy with Damon though."

Stefan sighed, not taking his eyes off the road or looking at his girlfriend. They were approaching dangerous territory. He didn't want Elena to know about his past and the terrible things he had done, too afraid she wouldn't see him in the same light anymore should she ever find out. Not answering wasn't an option though, Elena wouldn't let this go, so he decided on telling her a half truth. "Damon told her stories about me. He always was her favorite and wanted to keep it like that. So he made himself appear harmless to her and told her all the bad things that come with being a vampire about me. He possibly even compelled her."

He really did believe that last part. Sure, he did commit terrible crimes in the past, but he wasn't like that anymore. It happened long before Eleanor was born. Even if Damon told her all those stories there was no way she could loathe him so much and at the same time adore his brother, who still was a monster. It had to be compulsion. It had to be.

Elena didn't seem to suspect anything from his short explanation and was satisfied. However she wasn't done with the topic just yet. "So what exactly is her illness? It must be pretty bad to have her hospitalized for so many years." And with a worried frown she added "She isn't dangerous, is she?"

"No, no. She isn't a danger for anyone." Stefan hurried to reassure the worried brunette. "Her condition must have definitely gotten a lot better or the doctors wouldn't have sent her home." He leaned his head back against the seat contemplating on how to best explain the young girl's condition. "She was diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia when she was about eight or nine years old. She hears voices in her head. The voices tell her to do or say things and she can't distinguish the imaginary voices from reality. She believes..." he hesitated "...or used to believe the whispers in her head are real, that real people are talking to her." The blonde vampire was deep in thought now, reminiscing one of the few times he had seen the girl and witnessed her illness. "She used to talk to seemingly thin air. It was like she was having conversations only she could hear the other end of. Sometimes it caused her headaches. She was in a lot of pain and claimed the noises were too loud, that they were yelling at her. It was all manageable. She was seeing therapists and taking medicine, but one day something happened that caused Zach to make the decision to send her to a specialized hospital."

Elena clung to Stefan's every word, intrigued by the drama unfolding. "What happened?" she asked breathlessly.

Stefan now had a somber look on his face. "She set the house on fire. Almost burned herself in the process. One day Zach came home and found her next to burning furniture screaming hysterically at nobody in particular to stop, just stop. By the time he managed to extinguish the flames her pullover sleeve had caught fire. You couldn't see it under her clothes, but her entire left arm and shoulder is covered in scars from that event."

The girl in the passenger seat was stunned. "Wow, that's...that is horrible. I can't imagine..."

Stefan nodded as he pulled into the school's parking lot. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. After that incident Zach couldn't take it anymore. The responsibility was too much, so he decided it was best to get professional help before she could kill herself or anyone else and sent her to the hospital where she has been staying until now."

As Stefan stopped the engine and they both unbuckled their seat belts Elena uttered her next question. "What about her parents? You said Zach was her uncle and guardian. What happened to her mom and dad?"

"They are dead." Stefan smiled sadly at his girlfriend. "Her mother died giving birth to her and her father had a stroke shortly after learning about the diagnose. Maybe it was the stress of learning how bad his daughter's condition really was or maybe he already had a bad heart. We never found out."

When the couple got out of the car to walk into the school building Elena had tears in her eyes, feeling for the younger orphaned girl. Eleanor's fate struck a cord within Elena. After all, she, too, was an orphan. Even though she was much older when she lost her parents she could sympathize and swore to herself to try and make friends with the girl.

* * *

Eleanor had finished unpacking by noon. All her clothes were neatly hanging in her closet, the books were arranged on the shelves and her toiletries had been placed in her spacious en suite bathroom. She briefly contemplated taking a relaxing bubble bath but eventually decided there was time for that in the evening. So now she was lounging on her large comfortable plush sofa, simply basking in the feeling of freedom that came with being away from the dreaded place that was her home for the past five years.

Back at the hospital she would have been dragged to a group therapy session by now to 'talk about her feelings' and 'share her experiences' with the other patients. She hated those sessions. She didn't see the point. None of the other patients or even the therapists could relate to her feelings. They didn't hear what was going on in her head and they naturally couldn't understand anything about it. She was sick of being told time after time that she was hallucinating, that the voices and whispers were only in her head. She knew that, she wasn't stupid. She found out that nobody else could hear them very early on. It was obvious by the weird looks she got from everyone else whenever she responded to them.

But that didn't mean it wasn't real. She heard the voices. Every single day of her life. She _knew_ they were there. What she _didn't_ know was what it all meant, _why_ she was hearing it and what she was supposed to do about it. None of her many doctors had an answer to that either.

No, Eleanor wasn't stupid at all. The opposite was the case. She was pretty smart. That got tested more times than she cared to remember. However that didn't benefit her either. Smart or not, she was the crazy one that heard imaginary things. Who cared that her brain worked faster and better than most people's? Right, nobody cared. It didn't help her one bit.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Her intellect did help her. Once she figured out that nobody could actually help her, she learnt to go by what was expected of her. She learned that her doctors didn't want her to hear voices, so she claimed that it occurred less and less. It wasn't even a complete lie. The medication she was forced to take did keep the whispers at bay, numbed the voices. But the pills not only numbed what she heard in her head, they numbed her entire conscious. Eleanor hated the numb feeling. It made her less aware of what had to be done. It made her slip in her act and the more she slipped the more therapy sessions she had to endure and the more pills she was forced to swallow. The more pills she took the more she slipped… a vicious cycle really.

In the end she succeeded though. Her being here at home was proof of that. The professionals believed she was in control and she really was. While she couldn't get rid of the voices she could decide not to listen, to make her own decisions. Something like _the incident_ would never happen again. She had sworn to herself that she would never let anything like that ever happen again, that she would be in control.

Before Eleanor could work herself into a fit of anger over the memories of the hospital there was a soft knock at her door and Damon entered the room. "Hey Nora, how are you doing? I was wondering if you would like to go on a little mission with me?"

Eleanor looked up at the vampire curiously. "What kind of mission?"

"I'm going to a haunted house with Bonnie. She is Elena's friend and a witch." At the last word he wiggled his eyebrows encouragingly already knowing that this would intrigue her and it did. She couldn't resist an adventure and meeting a witch in a haunted house sounded exciting enough. It wouldn't be her first encounter with one of the guardians of nature's balance. Damon used to take her on road trips when she was younger and sometimes he would have her meet one of the witches he was doing business with. But she had been sheltered for the last years so this sounded like enough of an adventure to lure her out.

A short while later they were sitting in Damon's baby blue camaro happily singing along to the songs playing on the radio and chatting about the 'good old times' when Damon would swing by whenever he was in the area to make his niece's life more exciting.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Meanwhile Damon reluctantly filled the girl in on the threat to Elena's life by an ancient vampire and how Bonnie was supposed to absorb the power of a hundred dead witches in order to kill said vampire and save her friend's life. It was no use to keep her in the dark, Damon figured. She was living here now and she was perceptive so she would find it out sooner or later anyways. He preferred to do it on his terms so he could keep an eye on her and make sure the information wasn't harmful to her health.

Eleanor was silent when they walked towards the old witch burning grounds mulling over what she had just learned. She supposed this would explain the weird feeling she had and the voices in her head going rampant when she met Elena. She didn't have time to contemplate if there was more to it as her thoughts were interrupted by a dark skinned girl about Elena's age coming out of the house and introducing herself as Bonnie the witch.

The trio entered the building together. Everyone immediately noticed the whispers growing in volume. Damon snapped at the young witch when he suddenly couldn't move anymore. Eleanor however was oblivious to their bickering because she was faced with her own troubles. Neither the vampire nor the witch noticed the girl growing more and more nervous. Her eyes hectically darted around the room. She didn't only hear the usual whispering voices in her head anymore. There were more voices than she was used to. A lot more. They all seemed to be speaking at once, steadily growing in volume until they were yelling and screaming over each other inside the girl's head. It hurt. She couldn't take it anymore.

Only after Bonnie mumbled a spell to release Damon and keep the ghosts of the dead witches from further messing with his daylight ring did they notice Eleanor's distress. She fell to her knees clutching her head with both hands. "Nora?" Damon's worried voice questioned, but she didn't hear him over the ruckus in her own mind. "Make it stop! It hurts...please. Stop!" she wailed in agony her hands now tucking on her raven black strands. "Please! No more! I can't...hear..."

Damon didn't hesitate any longer. He grabbed his thrashing niece by the waist and sped them both out of the building. Eleanor's body went limb in his arms. She sobbed into his chest one of her hands tightly clenched the fabric of his shirt as if it was her lifeline. "Ssh ssh it's okay" he whispered into the crying girl's ear his hand stroking her back soothingly. "We are outside. They can't hurt you anymore."

It didn't take Eleanor long to calm down and wipe the remaining tears away. "Looks like dead witches don't like the Salvatores very much" Damon joked as he helped her to her feet. "Come on, let's get you back home. Bonnie can deal with the witchy business on her own." The girl didn't object and slowly followed him back to the car. The ride back was quiet. Eleanor didn't trust her voice enough to speak just yet and Damon was lost in thought. Oblivious to the fact that it was her own mind that caused her pain the vampire blamed himself for bringing her into the supernatural drama. He should have known better than to expose the fragile human to a bunch of vengeful witch ghosts. Now he could only hope that some rest and a good nights sleep was enough for her to recover from the unpleasant experience.

When they arrived at the boarding house Eleanor went straight to her room now eager to take a relaxing bubble bath. While she soaked in the tub her mind wandered back to the day's events. What exactly happened to her in the haunted house? It wasn't physical pain like Damon experienced and like he thought she did as well. It was something in her mind. Usually she would hear clear voices in her head. She would hear what was said and even if she didn't always understand the meaning she understood the words. But in that house it had been a jumbled mess in her head. It felt like she had been in the middle of a hysteric mass, just that she hadn't. She couldn't comprehend a single word that was said or rather shouted. What did it mean?

Eleanor never came to a conclusion that night, but at least the scalding hot water relaxed her enough to go to bed and fall into a dreamless sleep. Her body and mind much needed that to recover from today's experiences.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you everyone who reviewed, commented, favorited or followed my story. That means a lot to me!**

 **This is my very first fanfiction and i never expected anyone to be interested in my writing. I'm excited that so many of you want to read about my OC.**

 **I'm very inexperienced and not a native speaker. So please forgive me if my writing isn't as perfect as some other authors. You are welcome to let me know if I mess up.**

 **Enjoy**

Eleanor jolted upright suddenly and gasped for air. Looking around in the pitch dark room trying to figure out what woke her up, her eyes fell on the glowing numbers of the digital clock on her nightstand. The red LED display informed her that it was 3:26am, deep at night. She let her head fall back on the cushion and sight when she heard them.

Whispers. Multiple voices seemed to come from different directions. They whispered the same words over and over again. Sometimes in unison like a creepy choir, sometimes separately. _The basement. Check the basement._ That was what the voices said. _The basement._

It made no sense. Did she wake up from the voices? Eleanor didn't remember dreaming anything. While she pondered over her mysterious wake-up the voices grew in urgency. The words came faster now, overlapping each other and causing a slight headache.

Reluctantly she threw the covers off her body and got up. On bare feet she padded towards the closed door of her room. Slowly she turned the doorknob careful not to make any noise that would alert the vampires in the house. If Damon found her up and about at that hour he would fuss over her and demand answers on the why and how. She could hardly tell him about the whispers. That would surely be her ticket straight back to the hospital. That was to be avoided at all cost. What would happen if she ran into Stefan she'd rather not imagine. A cold shudder went down her spine at the thought of the younger brother. No, being alone with her creepy uncle in the middle of the night was almost worse than being send back into the loony bin. Almost.

Eleanor sneaked down the stairs towards the hidden door to the cellar of the boarding house. The whispers now sounded from behind her, even more urgent as if they wanted to push her down the narrow staircase in the dark basement. When Eleanor grabbed the door handle she suddenly felt lightheaded, her vision swimming for a brief moment. She quickly pulled the door closed behind her and flicked on the lights. The darkness must be playing tricks on her mind.

However the lightheaded feeling didn't leave her while descending down the stairs towards what she knew was a prison cell. This place always gave her the creeps. She never liked the basement of her childhood home. Growing up here she would mostly ignore the place. Whenever she had to go down here to fetch something for her dad or later for her uncle Zach she would hurry past the cell, grab whatever she needed and run back upstairs. Luckily the adults in the household knew about her fear and would rarely send her down here.

Now she was coming here voluntarily only urged on by the whispers made up by her own mind. If she wasn't feeling so dizzy she would find it to be ironic that her own mind made her visit a place she feared.

She reached the closed door to the prison cell, grabbed the handle and got on her tippy-toes to peak into the room. But before she could look into the cell her vision swam again and instead of the prison cell she watched her uncle Zach run down the stairs she just walked down. She could feel his distress and the urgency. „No!" she heard him yell before she saw a very disheveled looking Damon flash towards Zach with a menacing expression and his vampire features showing. Then everything went black.

Eleanor gasped audibly and stumbled backwards until her back hit the wall opposite of the door. She took deep ragged breathes. The girl sank to her knees, face in her hands while she tried to get a handle on her emotions. What did just happen? Was she dreaming? Daydreaming? She pinched herself. It stung. No, definitely not dreaming. She stared at the door blankly for a few seconds before violently shaking her head to get rid of any lingering images of whatever she just saw...or imagined to see…

That was when she noticed that the whispers had quieted down. It was eerily silent. No voices telling her what to do, no signs of life made it through the closed basement door. But just when she decided she had enough for one night and got up to her feet again, determined to make it to her bedroom and forget all about this strange encounter, the whispers started again. _Look. Look at him._ She frowned. Look at whom? Where? Hesitantly she approached the cell door again and got on her tip-toes careful not to touch anything this time, just in case touch triggered the weird daydream.

As she peeked through the bars her breath caught yet again. On the floor was a body. A man was laying there in what looked like a dress suit. It was hard to tell since the clothes were burned badly. His face however wasn't burned. It looked gray and...vainy, but that wasn't the worst thing about the view in front of her. A dagger was sticking out of his upper torso where she assumed his heart would be.

Eleanor stumbled back once again. „No!" she exclaimed loudly and shook her head sending her dark curls flying. Then she raced up the stairs, yanking the door open and sending it shut behind her with a loud thud. She didn't care anymore of waking anyone up as she ran upstairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. „No, no, no." she mumbled while crawling under her covers and curling up in a fetal position. There was a dead man in her basement! No, not a man. A vampire most likely. Why was he there? Who was he? And most importantly why did her mind tell her to check up on him?

Of course now her mind was quiet. No answers were provided. They never were. That was the most unsettling part about her illness. The imaginary voices would make her do things, hear things, but never explain anything. She was so desperate for an explanation. Not for the first time either, but from experience she knew it would never come. Eleanor groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. She had no choice. She would have to ask Damon about the body in the morning and come up with some excuse how she found it. Mentioning whispers that woke her up in the middle of the night certainly wasn't an option.

While her mind went over all the possible and impossible explanations she could present Damon in the morning, she finally fell asleep again, undisturbed this time.

* * *

The next morning came too early for Eleanor's liking, but her inner clock was still tuned to the hospital schedule she'd lived on for years. She knew there was no way she would fall back to sleep. Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned when the light coming through the half closed curtains blinded her. Reluctantly she threw the covers off of her body and padded to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Since unlike in the hospital there was nothing she had to do here, she settled back into her bed after her morning toilet, grabbing a book from the nightstand that would allow her to dive into an imaginary world. She certainly wasn't eager to face the real world just yet. _Alice in Wonderland_ had been her favorite book ever since Damon read it to her when she'd been a small child and the worn out copy showed that it's been read many times over.

Her blissful little bubble of fantasy characters didn't last long though. Half an hour later there was a soft knocking on her door before Damon sauntered in, a smirk on his face.

"Good morning my little Nora, how are you?" he questioned while sitting down on the edge of her bed, the smirk replaced by a genuinely worried expression.

Eleanor peeked over the book. "I'm fine, uncle Damon."

The vampire studied her face intently. "You sure? Those pesky witches did a number on you yesterday."

"Really, I'm fine. A little tired still, but nothing to worry about" the girl replied as she lowered her book to smile up at her vampire uncle.

Damon nodded, believing his niece as his gaze fell onto the medicine bottles on her nightstand. "You have to take all of these?" he questioned, grabbing one of the pill bottles to study it's label. Eleanor only nodded. "And have you taken them yet?"

"Not on an empty stomach." she responded. "I'm not supposed to."

That caused a wide grin to appear on Damon's face as he jumped up and sauntered towards the door to grab the tablet he had placed just outside her room. "Then it's good I brought you this!" he grinned triumphantly as he placed the tablet on her sheet covered lap.

The girl's eyes widened as she took in what was presented to her. A large glass of milkshake and a plate filled with pancakes, the top one decorated with a smiley face made from whipped cream and two strawberries as fangs. "Chocolate chip pancakes and strawberry milkshake?" She smiled widely.

"Your favorite." Damon nodded with a smile of his own. "Grandma Salvatore's recipe."

"Thank you, uncle Damon" the young girl beamed happily at her uncle as she eagerly grabbed the cutlery to dug into her food.

Damon chuckled as he got up to leave the room. "You are welcome, Nora, enjoy."

Before Damon could pull the door close behind him, Eleanor called him back. "Damon?" He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his niece. "Who is the dead guy in our basement?"

Damon sighed and opened the door again taking a step back into the room. "He is not dead. Not really."

Eleanor scrunched up her face into a frown. "He sure looks dead."

When Damon sat back on the bed next to her again he took a deep breath. "Remember the Original that wants to kill Klaus who wants to kill Elena? It's him, Elijah." He confessed. "The dagger in his heart keeps him down. He looks dead, but as soon as that dagger is removed he won't be dead anymore." He ran a hand through his hair a worried expression on his face. "This dagger is the only way to...sort of...kill an Original."

"You said he was going to keep Elena and everyone she loved safe." She had watched him carefully during his explanation while devouring the delicious food he had prepared for her. "You don't trust him." She concluded watching the pained expression on her uncles face.

He composed himself quickly. "When have I ever trusted anyone?" he chuckled and padded her legs through the covers before he got up and marched out of the room. "Don't worry about it, little Nora. I have it under control." And with that he pulled the door close behind him and Eleanor was left alone with her thoughts again.

She sipped her milkshake slowly while thinking about what she just learned. The corpse in the basement wasn't really a corpse. From what Damon said it sounded more like a temporary purgatory. She tried to imagine how one felt when 'daggered'. Was it like dying? Or more like an involuntary sleep? A coma? Not a pleasant state, she was sure of that. She knew the feeling of being powerless all too well from her time in the hospital. If being daggered felt anything like that she wouldn't want to be in this Elijah's place right now.

The new knowledge was interesting, but it didn't explain why she was woken up last night and led down there to find the Original. There was no reason why she'd need to know that he was there, who he was or why he was there. And the whole daydreaming about Zach and Damon remained a mystery altogether. Once again her messed up mind didn't make any sense, it only served to rile her up and get her in trouble. At that last angry thought Eleanor's gaze fell on the medicine bottles on her nightstand. It was time. She had finished her breakfast, so her stomach wasn't empty anymore. She had no reason anymore to postpone taking the pills and succumbing to the dreaded numbness caused by them.

Reluctantly she got up, shook the required amount of pills out of the bottles and made her way over to the bathroom filling up a glass of water to help her swallow the medicine. She stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment debating once more whether to take her medication. She had to. If she didn't she would spiral and if she spiraled she would be send back to the hospital. But...what if she didn't take them? Just this once? Would anyone really notice? Would they know she didn't take them? The only person that could possibly figure it out was Damon. But Damon was busy with his Elena drama. And even if he wasn't...how would he tell if she took the pills or not? Eleanor was good at lying. It came naturally to her after practicing for five years. Surely she could fool him? It wasn't like she planned never to take her medication again…

With a determined nod she let the pills fall from her hand into the sink. They clattered against the ceramic. Eleanor turned the tap on to wash them down the drain then took a large gulp from her glass of water a smile appearing on her face. She would enjoy her freedom without the numb feeling just this once. Just today. With a cheerful skip in her step she made her way back to the bedroom to get dressed for the day.

* * *

Eleanor spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in her room in front of her laptop doing schoolwork. In the hospital her and the other children had been taught by teachers from a homeschooling organization that specialized on mentally ill children since being hospitalized meant they couldn't go to a public school, but that didn't revoke the need to be schooled. The organization provided a series of online courses for the student that were being transferred back to their home. The transfer, like in Eleanor's case, didn't usually match with the beginning of a new school year and the change was drastic enough for most kids without the added stress of joining a public school in the middle of the semester.

Schoolwork was the only thing that Eleanor actually liked about her time at the hospital. She could learn things at her own pace and wasn't bound to a curriculum. It allowed her to take as much time as she wanted with the topics that interested her the most and didn't force her to concentrate on the boring parts. The teachers would only show up once a week to coach their students in small groups or individually. What Eleanor concentrated on in between those visits was entirely up to herself and she enjoyed that freedom.

Since the teachers were trained to work with sick children they were also more lenient if one happened to slack on certain topics. It could always be blamed on having a 'dark phase'. Not that Eleanor ever slacked. She loved learning new things.

The best part about the teachers, however, was that they never bothered her. During the lessons it wasn't about her and her problems, only about the subject. Nobody pestered her to talk about her feelings or reveal her thoughts.

If it was up to Eleanor she would continue studying like this till she was old enough to graduate. Interaction with other people wasn't her forte. It never had been and being separated from normal social life for most of her youth didn't help either.

Not that she was complaining.

No, Eleanor always tended to avoid getting in contact with others. Even as a child, even before her diagnosis she preferred to play alone. She avoided the other children just as much as they seemed to avoid her. It was mutual.

People and Eleanor just weren't a good match. Maybe it had to do with growing up knowing about the supernatural and being forced to keep the secret. Or maybe it had to do with growing up having a century-old vampire that happened to be her great great great uncle as best and only friend. Or maybe it was simply her personality amplified by her illness.

With her legal guardian Zach away from home Eleanor doubted the topic of going to school would come up anytime soon and that worked in her favor. However that didn't mean she would slack on studying. Her education was one of the few things the girl held in high regard. As cliche as it sounded, in Eleanor's opinion knowledge was power and she would do her damnedest to gain as much knowledge as she possibly could.

So it was easy for Eleanor to lose herself in her work while the hours passed by. When she finally looked up and lazily stretched her stiff limbs it was late afternoon. Due to her late breakfast she had easily skipped lunch, but now her empty stomach hungrily demanded attention. After saving her progress and storing her books away she made her way towards the kitchen to hunt down a much needed snack.

Eleanor halted on the stairs taking in the picture below her. Both her vampire uncles, Elena and the witch Bonnie were present in the living room, invested in a debate about the current situation regarding Klaus. Stefan quietly observed a widely gesturing and obviously upset Damon with deep frown lines on his forehead while the witch glared at the eldest Salvatore and Elena looked from one to the other with wide doe eyes while clutching Stefan's hand.

When they noticed Eleanor standing on the landing the discussion stopped, everyone's eyes on the girl. Damon smiled at her fondly, Stefan sported his usual worried broody look and Bonnie looked unsure how to react to the youngest Salvatore's presence. Eleanor fidgeted nervously under the sudden attention while she took the last few steps down to their level. Eleanor opened her mouth to mutter a greeting, but before any words would come out or anyone could acknowledge her presence verbally, Elena jumped up from her seat on the couch next to Stefan and made her way over to Eleanor. Damon attempted a shocked "Elena, no!", but it was to late. Eleanor found herself in a tight embrace from the older girl and her body went rigid.

The girl's eyes were wide, her body trembling violently, her only other reaction to the well meant gesture was a small, desperate whimper. Damon jumped into action immediately. He flashed over to the odd pair and practically wrenched Elena away from his niece, albeit gently. Positioning himself between the girls he grabbed his niece and pulled her close to him, running a soothing hand through her curls. "It's alright. I got you." he murmured softly. "I got you, no need to freak out."

Eleanor's entire body was shaking heavily, her hands clutched around her uncles shirt like he was her lifeline. Damon slowly led his distraught niece over to the empty sofa across the room and sat down with her in his lap, murmuring "I got you" over and over while she slowly calmed down.

Elena watched the pair with a horrified expression. Knowing her story she had felt sorry for the girl and wanted to offer comfort, but the extreme reaction rendered her speechless. It didn't feel like she did anything wrong, but the response seemed to tell her otherwise. Stefan's gaze switched between his still trembling niece in his brother's embrace and the confused look on his girlfriend's face, the frown lines on his forehead only deepening in confusion.

When Eleanor seemed to calm down, her head buried in the crook of his neck and the death grip on his shirt slowly loosening, Damon finally turned his attention on his brother's girlfriend. "She doesn't like being touched." he offered as an explanation for the odd behavior.

That only served to increase Elena's confusion. "You are touching her."

A cocky smirk appeared on Damon's face as he lifted an eyebrow at the brunette. "Obviously I'm special. I'm her favorite!" He shifted his gaze back to the girl in his lap. "Isn't that right, Nora darling?" Eleanor didn't answer, but her trembling had stopped and she turned her head slightly to rest her cheek on his shoulder facing him.

"There she is again, that's my girl." he chuckled and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

Elena finally snapped out of her confused stupor and took a hesitant step towards the pair, careful to keep her distance now. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. I didn't know." She offered hesitantly.

Eleanor lifted her head towards the brunette. Her eyes were still wide, but there was the ghost of a smile on her lips. "I'm sorry, too." she whispered almost inaudibly.

"No, no, you have nothing to apologize for. I should have..." but before Elena could finish her sentence, Bonnie interrupted, sounding annoyed: "Back to the topic at hand, shall we? Klaus is coming for Elena and we need to stop him." Everyone's eyes shifted to the witch, even Stefan's who had been watching his niece and brother with an increasingly worried expression. Their relationship didn't seem right to him. Until Eleanor's arrival on their doorstep he hadn't even known they had been in contact over the years, but seeing the girl's reaction to his brother in contrast to his girlfriend only served to confirm his worries about Damon compelling Eleanor. 'Figures, he doesn't even respect family enough to put the games aside' Stefan thought bitterly.

But before Stefan could voice his thoughts or anyone could react to Bonnie's demand, there was a sharp knocking on the front door and in strolled Alaric. "There you are!" Damon perked up as everyone looked at the newcomer and even Eleanor eyed him curiously.

"Sorry I'm late." Alaric responded as he walked into the parlor.

"Rick, meet my baby niece Eleanor! Nora, this is Alaric, local history buff and part-time vampire hunter." Damon gestured between the two awkwardly after gently placing Eleanor on the seat next to him and getting up. Alaric nodded at the girl, while Eleanor just looked at his uncle's friend blankly. She was still shaken up, but that wasn't her only problem now. Unnoticed by anyone else the voices in her head came to life with vigor.

Damon was trying to talk Alaric into putting him down as a chaperon for tonight's decade dance at the school and everyone started their heated debate again on how to figure out who Klaus was and what to do when they did. Everyone but Eleanor, who stared at her uncle's supposed friend with increasingly wide eyes as the whispers in her head became clearer and she could make out what they were saying.

 _Klaus.._ _Klaus...Klaus_ _._ It sounded from all around Eleanor. _Not Alaric!_ Eleanor's eyes switched from side to side nervously before she stared at 'Alaric' again. Everyone had gotten up from their seats after Bonnie tossed Damon across the room to show her powers and nobody seemed to notice Eleanor's distress. Nobody but 'Alaric' who, after losing interest in the bickering between the witch and the vampire, was now watching the girl intently. Eleanor looked at him almost panicked, oblivious to the bickering due to the ruckus in her mind. Alaric's eyes narrowed at her, trying to figure out what she knew.

The stare down was interrupted when Damon finally noticed the panicked state his nice was in. "What's going on?" he questioned, his narrowed gaze going from 'Alaric' to Eleanor and back.

Eleanor jumped from her seat under the scrutinizing gaze of her uncle. "I...I..." she stammered helplessly at a loss for words for a moment. "I...I need to find something to eat." she finally managed to stammer out and dashed towards the kitchen, away from her uncle's suspicious gaze and Alaric's inquiring eyes.

Damon's ice blue orbs followed her escaping figure for a moment, then settled down on his assumed friend, who only shrugged in response.

The debate heated up again and moved everyone's attention away from the retreating girl and back to the matter at hand.

In the kitchen, hidden from view, Eleanor leaned against the wall for support and attempted to take deep calming breathes. Her legs threatened to give out under her and she began to seriously regret not taking her medicine this morning. This wasn't normal. She was used to the voices flaring up at the most inconvenient times, but never with this intensity. It scared her. Ever since she returned home the whispers appeared to be more fierce, more vicious, more...pointed. They didn't seem so random anymore. Instead it seemed like she was being told information. Important information. Information that made no sense whatsoever.

Taking deep steadying breathes Eleanor pushed away from the wall and made towards the fridge to fetch that snack she came down for in the first place. It's all a bit too much. The stress of coming home to unexpectedly find both her beloved and her abhorred uncles at home and all these crazy things going on was getting to her. That had to be it. She almost succeeded to convince herself. Almost, if not for the voices in her mind, now reduced to background noise, telling her otherwise.

* * *

Eleanor was pacing in her room. Up and down, up and down in front of her closed door. She had tried to distract herself. She prepared a full dinner meal instead of just a snack, neatly placed it on a plate, brought it up to her room and took as much time as possible eating. But now she was done. The pots, dishes and cutlery were clean and stored away, the kitchen was spotless and she was back in her room alone with her worries.

She passed her bed for the hundredth time internally debating what to do. The whispers had been creepy but she _knew_ something was off with this Alaric person. Something wasn't _right_ here. She needed to tell her uncle. If Klaus was involved it was important and Damon would want to know. But what should she say? How would she explain herself? Mentioning the voices in her mind was still out of the question. Now that she got to enjoy the freedom of her own home she wasn't ready to trade it for the dreaded hospital, probably never would be. She wanted to stay here. Damon was here, at home with her, a rare enough occasion and she wouldn't risk that for the world.

Why not simply keep quiet? It probably was nothing. Whispers conjured by her sick mind didn't mean anything. Eleanor groaned. Despite her better knowledge she was sure that something was wrong with her uncle's friend. The voices in her head had been to clear to ignore.

She squished her eyes shut for a moment, sighing deeply, then marched to the door determinedly. 'The right thing, do the right thing' she chanted to herself as she approached Damon's bedroom. Just before her hand reached his door handle she hesitated again, pacing in front of his door now. Doing the right thing was all well and good but how to go about it? How exactly should she go about explaining things?

There had to be a way to do it without earning a one way ticket back to the loony bin. There _had_ to be a way! In the middle of Eleanor's internal debate the door was yanked open and Damon stood in front of her, a worried look on his face. "What's going on? What are you doing?" He had clearly heard her pacing. Eleanor froze and stared at her uncle wide eyed like a deer caught in headlight.

* * *

While Eleanor suffered through her internal debate, a debate of a whole different caliber was going on in an apartment a few miles away from the boarding house.

A girl looking exactly like Elena sat on a chair all bloodied up from having to torture herself for hours. She looked up at the man in front of her in desperation. "There is a niece. Why didn't I know about that?" The man disguised as Alaric gritted threw his teeth.

Katherine kept quiet. The niece was a puzzle for herself. She had known the girl existed. Looking into the Salvatore family history had been an obvious part of the observation done prior to showing her face in Mystic Falls and confronting her ex lovers. The girl being in town was news to her though. According to her investigation Eleanor was in a mental sanatorium for an unlimited amount of time. The girl was a nutcase and not supposed to show up anytime soon if ever.

'Alaric' growled at the doppelganger. He didn't like her silence, he wanted information. Advancing towards her menacingly he demanded "I suggest you start talking. Now!"

Katherine shook her head desperately, fear now evident in her eyes. "I don't know her!" she rushed out. "I never met her. When I checked she was locked up in the loony bin with no chance for return."

Not satisfied but at least somewhat pacified 'Alaric' circled the chair. "I don't know what the big deal is!" Katherine exclaimed, terrified by the man's actions. He was unpredictable at the best of times. Upset he was even worse. She truly feared for her life now, so she quickly added "The girl is a complete nutcase. Has been at the funny farm for years nonstop. Nobody would believe anything the loony says." She stared at him, trying to hide her apprehension behind determination. "Relax, you have nothing to worry about. Especially not from some underage loony on parole."

The man shook his head, still not fully convinced. "She stared at me with that...look! As if she knew something!" he bellowed. "I can't risk her exposing me! Too much is at stake."

Katherine glared at him, not amused with the obvious paranoia of the man she spent so many centuries running from. "She is crazy." She emphasized every word carefully. "What you saw probably was her usual look. Who knows what's going on in a messed up mind?"

Alaric's face slowly relaxed into a smirk as Klaus calmed down hearing Katherine's words. "Right. I've waited a millennium to break the curse. A crazy human sure isn't a threat for me."

Katherine relaxed slightly having dodged that bullet. At least for now she was safe. She would die at the hands of a madman eventually, but not now and not over a loony girl.

* * *

Damon stared his nervous niece down, determined to get to the bottom of her weird behavior. Sure, Elena's unexpected touchiness startled the girl, but that was this afternoon and it wasn't like his Eleanor to still be all fidgety hours later.

Eleanor was at a loss for words staring at her uncle blankly. Her hands kept moving nervously, clutching the hem of her shirt, playing with the soft fabric. Eyes flickering from his face to the floor and back to his face, never truly meeting his intense gaze.

Anyone else would have thought she was just nervous, maybe still suffering from the earlier events, but Damon knew his niece better than most people. Something was off with her behavior, it wasn't just nervousness, no. She was obviously dying to say something but was afraid to do so.

His gaze softened and he threw an arm around her shoulders pulling her close to him and leading them both towards his bed to take a seat. "Get it off your chest, Nora. What's wrong?"

"I...I..." she stammered helplessly as he led her to sit down next to him on the bed. This was bad. She hadn't fully prepared her speech yet and Damon was a master at uncovering her lies. If anyone could do it it was him. The vampire interrupted her panicked train of thoughts.

"Stop that! What's wrong? Tell me!" he demanded, catching her fidgeting hands in his larger ones, effectively stilling her.

Eleanor carefully lifted her gaze from her lap, her ice blue orbs meeting his identical ones. "How...how well do you know Alaric?" she softly questioned.

Damon frowned, not expecting this. He would have understood it if she was nervous about Elena's advances, but to his knowledge Alaric hasn't done anything to trigger the girl's nerves.

"Rick's my...friend" he admitted hesitantly, not comfortable admitting that he in fact had a friend, but this was his Eleanor. She wouldn't judge him. She never did. "I believe I know him very well. Why? What is wrong?"

The girl took a deep breath her gaze flickering down to her lap before she hesitantly spoke up. "I...I think something is wrong with him. Was he in contact with Klaus maybe?" She looked up at him carefully through her thick lashes. "Compulsion maybe?"

Damon sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth while eyeing the girl. Alaric was his friend, he knew he was on vervain, but Eleanor wasn't lying to him and she wasn't the type to put on a show for attention. Being this riled up she must truly think something was wrong and felt it important to tell him. With these thoughts Damon pulled Eleanor closer to him into a comforting hug. "I am sure Rick is taking his vervain, but I'll make sure to keep a close eye on him." he assured her insistently. Then he released her from his embrace and grabbed her chin to lift her face up so she would meet his gaze. "Don't worry. I have everything under control."

Eleanor nodded and got up when Damon released her. "Good night uncle Damon." she muttered, making her way over to her own room. She did everything in her power. She told Damon about her suspicions. It was out of her hands now.

With that internal pep talk to calm her worries she settled down for the night. Damon would know what to do. He always did and she trusted him. Now all she had to hope for was an undisturbed, dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **Please review and let me know what you think about my OC. What's your opinion about her mental state and her relationship to the other characters? I'm excited to read your comments.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm sorry for the long pause. There was a lot going on in my reallife that kept me from writing, but I'm back now and motivated to write again.**

 **I hope you enjoy and please keep telling me your opinion on the story and my OC in the reviews.**

* * *

The next day started out as it usually would. Eleanor slept as long as she could before her inner clock forced her out of the peaceful state of oblivion. Last night's discussion with her uncle came back to her. She had told him everything she could without revealing that she still heard voices in her head. No, not still. In fact the voices were more prominent than they had been.

Eleanor peered at the pill bottles on her nightstand nervously. She hadn't taken them yesterday morning like she should have. Could that be the reason for the intensity of the whispers? Eleanor sat on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the sheets as she contemplated this idea. No, she concluded. No, the whispers had been bad before that. They led her to the basement to find Elijah. At that time she still had been on her prescribed dose. No, one time not taking the medication couldn't have that much of an effect.

With a deep sigh Eleanor stood up and went to take a shower. While the hot water relaxed her body, it didn't do much to ease her internal tension. Long after she stopped the water and toweled her body and hair dry she still wasn't any less worried.

The intensity of the voices was new. The whispers had never before been so pointed. She was used to hearing whispers at random. She was even used to receive commands to do this or that. Sometimes she was able to refuse the demands and ignore them. Sometimes she had to do what she was told, although the latter had been increasingly rare during her time at the hospital. Eleanor had blamed that fact on the pills she was forced to take. In the institute there was no chance to skip it. The nurses would watch her closely to make sure she swallowed the medicine and they would even ask her to open her mouth afterwards, giving her no chance to pretend.

While Eleanor got dressed for the day her mind wouldn't pause for one second. She was confused. Despite all her efforts she couldn't shake the feeling that something was severely off. There was no rational reason for the whispers to flare up so suddenly and intense. No reason at all. Except...if there _was_ something wrong. If there in fact was something wrong it would make sense to draw Eleanor's attention.

Eleanor sighed deeply brushing her hair and attempting to work her wild curls into a neat braid. It felt like something important was going on. It felt like her attention was needed and she longed to do just that. But if she acknowledged that part it meant to put her trust into the voices. It meant to dismiss everything she learned during her time in the mental clinic. It meant taking the whispers in her head serious and trusting that they would lead her on the right path.

She wasn't ready to do that. The longer she thought about her options the more agitated she became. The longer she spent on taming her locks, the clearer it became. With her emotions going haywire and her thoughts all over the place there was no chance to tame her mane into something that even resembled a neat hairdo. Finally giving up she threw the hairbrush into the bathroom sink, barely repressing an annoyed scream.

Nothing made sense anymore. She left the hospital with complete control over the voices. Sure, she heard them, but she found a way to ignore them. It wasn't inevitable anymore. There were methods to drown them out. She wasn't forced to listen to them, much less follow orders.

But now the voices weren't just a background noise anymore. They weren't almost silent urges anymore. No, they were demanding and loud. Oh were they loud. The girl wasn't used to the intensity and loudness of her inner demons. They used to be a soft murmur. Sure, as a child she couldn't escape that either. The soft mumbles had been enough to cause crazy actions. Hence the assignation to the hospital. But she _had_ learned to manage that. She was _sure_ of it. Her doctors were sure of it. Even though she didn't give much on their opinion. Fooling the doctors was her most evolved skill, but still! _She_ was sure she managed it.

No, this intensity was new. This loudness was new. It hadn't been like this before and the one day not taking her medication couldn't be the cause of this much change. Even the focus was new. It used to be random whispers, random orders, random information. Now it wasn't random at all. It was very pointed. It was very _true_.

The accuracy was what threw Eleanor for a loop, mostly. Despite all her claims she always knew there was a trueness to the voices, but she could never pinpoint it. There had never been a case to indicate it. Now, however, there was proof. At least for herself.

The voices had led her down to the basement to find Elijah. Even though she didn't know _why_ it was important to find him, it still was true. Her mind told her to go down and she did find something. And now her mind had told her something was wrong with Alaric. No. Not just something. Her mind had told her Alaric _was_ Klaus. It didn't make sense, but neither did walking down to the basement at the middle of the night. Yet the latter proved worthwhile. Why would that feeling be right and not the one about Alaric?

It had to be true. Alaric being Klaus sounded ridiculous even to her, but maybe it was a metaphor. It probably had to do with compulsion or magic or any other vampire tricks.

Eleanor found herself staring unseeingly at her image in the mirror while she came to the conclusion that the newfound urgency of the voices in her head had to hold some truth. With a deep sigh she finally pulled her messy locks into a ponytail and made to leave her room. There was nothing she could do now. She had told her uncle and he had reacted to it. The consequences were out of her hands now.

* * *

It was already late in the morning when Eleanor finally found her way downstairs. She had spent more time than she thought with her internal debate. That happened more often than she cared to admit. Getting lost in her thoughts was a regular occurrence for the girl. In the clinic that had caused quite a few problems. Doctors and nurses didn't take kindly to being ignored. When they figured their patient was oblivious to their presence that usually bought her an extra hour with one of the dreaded therapists, who would prod and pry for a reason. Being unresponsive wasn't socially acceptable, so it needed to be cured. Eleanor learned quickly to keep one ear open to her surroundings no matter how deep in thought she was. Being home and finally feeling somewhat safe must have messed with her judgment hence the lapse into long overcome habits.

Everyone was already awake and up. She found Stefan and Elena in the living room when she walked down the stairs, but hurried past them with just a nod to acknowledge their presence. After yesterdays encounter Eleanor wasn't too keen on meeting Elena. She felt bad about her reaction to the probably well meant hug. Yet she felt apprehension at the same time. She sure didn't want to repeat that encounter. Elena probably meant well, but Eleanor didn't know her and she had no desire to get to know the girl either. Sure, one of her uncles was in love with the older girl, but it was the uncle she didn't like. So why bother?

If it was up to Eleanor Stefan would disappear again just like he had been absent for most of her life. Preferably along with his girlfriend. The girl was certainly friendly, there was no denying that, but Eleanor wasn't good with people. She'd much prefer it to be just Damon and her without all the difficulties of being around another human.

With Damon she didn't have to pretend. He understood her. He didn't force her into awkward conversations, he never did. The two of them could spent hours without saying a word without it being uncomfortable. With other people it almost always was uncomfortable after mere minutes. On their road-trips Damon and her would be silent for hours just listening to the radio and then dived into deep conversation just as easily when the opportunity came along.

Being with Damon was as easy as breathing. With him she felt at home. No matter where they were. Being around other humans was difficult. So difficult she sometimes forgot about breathing altogether, so focused on fitting in. Damon always caught onto her discomfort before it could get bad. He would pry her away from whatever situation or conversation she was in, take her somewhere private and coax her to breath, whispering sweet nothings into her ear until her throat relaxed and allowed her to breath freely again.

Damon never made a big deal out of these encounters either. It had sometimes happened around Zach and even earlier when her dad was still around. Both men tended to panic when Eleanor became short-breathed. They made a huge fuss, forcing other people to bring her cold drinks and making a scene of it, drawing attention in the process. It only made it worse. Damon never did that. He took her away to grant them privacy, stroked her back or hair until her breathing evened out, then went back to whatever they were doing before like nothing ever happened.

As a consequence those encounters became increasingly rare, especially around her favorite uncle. Nowadays her so called asthma was considered to be cured. She had been on the verge of an attack yesterday with Elena, but Damon had intercepted before it could happen.

They both knew it wasn't real asthma that caused it, but stress. The stress of being in close proximity with unknown people.

In the past Eleanor would do her best to keep her emotions in check around people and Damon would do his best to shield her from uncomfortable encounters, all the while still allowing her to experience the world. That was one reason why she loved the vampire so much. He got her. He knew about all her problems yet never made a big deal out of it and certainly didn't let him stop it from showing her the world.

Her musings distracted Eleanor from the suffocating gazes both Stefan and Elena directed her way. She could almost feel the curiosity rolling off of them, but she passed the living room quickly on her mission to make a late breakfast for herself.

Deep in her thoughts she didn't notice Stefan walk into the kitchen until he cleared his throat to make his presence known. Eleanor whirled around to face him with a squeak of surprise, dropping the whisk and making a mess on the kitchen counter in the process.

She stared at him wide-eyed, her back pressed firmly against the counter. Her reaction caused the vampire to take a step back and raise his palms in a gesture that was supposed to show he meant no harm but did nothing to calm Eleanor's nerves.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Stefan started. "I just want to talk."

Eleanor tried to snort in response, but it came out more like a strangled sob and she took a step away from Stefan, inching closer to the opposite side of the room. Every nerve in Eleanor's body seemed to scream to her. Being in the same room with Stefan, alone, was one of her worst nightmares. Her flight instinct fought with her rational mind, the latter knowing that running would only trigger a vampire's hunting instinct, which would do her no good. She was versed enough in vampire abilities to know that she could never outrun one.

She knew her best bet was to remain calm and collected, find an excuse that wouldn't upset the monster, then find protection preferably in the form of Damon. With that thought in mind she slowly backed away from Stefan, her back firmly pressed to the kitchen counter as she slowly inched alongside it towards the exit. "W-what d-do you want to t-talk about?" she managed to force out.

 _Keep him distracted, keep his thoughts busy_. Her mind whispered to her and she desperately grasped onto that plan as she stared at Stefan waiting for a response and hoping it wouldn't be an attack.

Stefan observed the girl, taking in her panicked state and couldn't help but feel sorry. He had never done anything to her. Hell, he had hardly ever seen her growing up. Damon's compulsion must root deep for her to be this scared. He took another step away from her until his own back hit the wall. Slowly raising his palms higher he tried to convey to her that he meant no harm.

"It seems like we are going to live together for a while. I thought it would be a good idea to bury the hatch." Stefan smiled as he attempted to calm her nerves with this lame joke. He took a careful step forward slowly outstretching his right hand for her to shake. "We have to find a way to get along and I promise I won't hurt you. So, peace?" Stefan's face showed hope. However his offer did nothing to calm Eleanor down. To his despair she looked as if she would either faint or bolt any second.

The girl's heart was in overdrive, pounding so hard it reached dangerous levels. She didn't believe a word coming from her uncle's mouth but she couldn't let that show. She was convinced that to save her life she had to play along. So she extended her own hand to shake his, but before they could touch her flight instinct took control. She whirled around and bolted out of the kitchen only to bump into a hard chest.

The impact knocked the wind out of her. To Eleanor's great relieve the obstacle was nobody else but her beloved uncle Damon who wrapped his arms around her shoulders comfortingly. "What's got you all flustered?" he asked as he forced her back into the kitchen never releasing the hold on her. Damon's eyes fell on his brother's shocked face and that was all the explanation he needed. "Uh huh, brother dearest. Scaring the family?" he questioned mockingly.

Stefan's expression changed from shocked to angry in an instant. "I have you to thank for that. Good job" he bit out before turning around and strutting out of the room. Damon was confused by the accusation for a moment. He shook it off quickly when his attention returned to his niece who had her face buried in the fabric of his shirt. "Those pancakes aren't going to cook themselves, Nora" he joked and gently pushed her off him. "Chop chop."

Eleanor hesitantly lifted her head to look around the room and check for any other vampires. When she came up empty she turned around towards the bowl and grabbed the whisk again to proceed like nothing happened. She knew Damon caught on to her discomfort but she also knew he wouldn't comment on it, so there was nothing to keep her from finishing cooking breakfast now that she was protected. "You hungry?" she asked over her shoulder while moving a pan to the oven.

Damon hummed in response and took a seat on the kitchen island to wait for his niece to finish baking pancakes for them. The previous tension eased away soon as they fell into an easy conversation. They enjoyed the late breakfast together and Damon even helped Eleanor clean the dishes before they took their separate ways, Eleanor returning to her schoolwork and Damon heading outside.

* * *

Stefan and Elena had been in the living room during Damon's and Eleanor's late breakfast. They had attempted talking but Elena could tell Stefan was distracted. He was listening in on the sparse yet intimate conversation of his brother and his niece. Every laugh and giggle of the girl caused Stefan's frown to deepen further. After a while Elena had given up on trying to tempt Stefan into small talk and just watched him.

When Eleanor retreated to her room and Damon shut the front door behind him, Stefan's shoulders slumped. He looked defeated and Elena's heart ached for her boyfriend. "It will be okay," she placed a hand on his arm trying to comfort him.

Stefan shook his head. "You didn't see her face." His forehead crinkled into a deeper frown. "She was so scared. I didn't even do anything. My presence alone scared her so much her heart almost went into a cardiac state. How am I supposed to fix this if I can't even talk to her?"

Elena rubbed Stefan's arm affectionately. "She will come around. I did."

Stefan attempted to smile at his girlfriend's reassurance, but it turned into a grimace. "That was different. You were scared of what I am. Not of who I am."

"Why is she so afraid of you? It can't be the fact that you are a vampire. She is completely at ease with Damon." Elena spoke more to herself than him. Her own forehead showed a frown now, which was rare for the usually optimistic teenager. If anyone could find the positive in a bad situation it was her. "If she can look over everything Damon did then she sure can forgive you for whatever it is she's holding against you?"

"I don't even know what makes her so afraid." Stefan sighed deeply. "I'm a vampire. I have done my share of bad things, but none of it happened around her. I hardly ever met her aside from family anniversaries. If I had known Damon got so close to her I might have shown up more often. Try to keep the damage at a minimum..." He trailed off, not really sure what exactly he would or should have done differently if he knew about his brother's relationship with the young girl.

Elena leaned her head on his shoulder unable to comfort her boyfriend with words. "You'll figure something out. _We_ will figure it out. We always do." She finally said.

"That's the thing. I don't know what exactly Damon told her." Stefan sighed again with a longing glance towards the stairs that led upstairs and to Eleanor's room. "If he only told her stories about my past I might be able to fix this. But her reaction to me tells me there is more."

Elena lifted her head up to look at him questioningly. "What do you mean 'there is more'? What else could there be?"

Stefan's arm found it's way around Elena's shoulders to pull her closer to him. He didn't want her to know the details about his darkest time. She had seen him at a low after the incident with the tomb vampires when he was hooked on human blood after tasting hers. He remembered vividly how horrified she was by his actions then and those were nothing compared to how bad he had been in the past. His years as the ripper were something he never wanted Elena to know, let alone experience.

With these thoughts in mind he opted to answer vaguely. "There is no way to know exactly. I can only imagine that Damon told her about my darkest years and compelled her to be scared. Only hearing stories wouldn't cause a physical reaction this strong. It sounded like her heart was going to come out of her chest any minute." He chuckled darkly. "Maybe this is all part of his plan to make my life miserable. Compel my last remaining living descendant to loath me just to rub it in my face. And making her love him instead is just the icing on the cake."

Elena wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "We will figure it out." She ran her hands over his back soothingly. "I have every intention to befriend her. She deserves a friend after what she went through. Maybe that will help her trust you. You know I do."

Stefan hugged her back, tightening his arms around her at the last sentence. "I know you do and I'm forever grateful for that. If anyone can convince her, it would be you." He released the brunette from his embrace reluctantly to offer her a smile. "Thank you."

* * *

When Eleanor grew tired of studying later in the afternoon she found the boarding house busy. Footsteps from the attic over her room were what lured her out only to find Damon busy dressing up in his room.

"What's going on?" she questioned, pausing in the doorway to his bedroom.

The Vampire turned around still working his shirt buttons. "Decade dance at the school tonight. Klaus might show up there." He whirled around grabbing two items from his dresser. "The 60s. Bow, bow tie or without?" He held both items up to his neck before lowering them and watching the girl questioningly with a raised eyebrow.

Eleanor giggled as she walked up close to the vampire and undid one of the shirt buttons. "You look so stiff with one of those. Go like this, it's much better." She grabbed both items and threw them back into the dresser before sauntering over to his bad where she plopped down. Damon grinned at her. "You have impeccable taste, there is no doubt that you are a true Salvatore."

While Damon went into his closet again to grab dress shoes, the girl sobered up. Taking a deep breath she fired off the question that had been bugging her since her weird experience in the boarding house's cellar. "What's really happened to Uncle Zach? Did you kill him?" She held her breath, feeling she already knew the answer, but needing to hear it anyways.

Damon froze on his way out of the closet, his amused smirk disappearing. He paused in front of Eleanor, fixing her questioning look with his intense gaze. "Yes, I killed him. Zach is dead." He'd never lied to Eleanor. He'd never needed to. Granted, he never killed her only living relative before, but she new about most of his other indiscretions and never judged him for those.

He could only hope she wouldn't start judging him now. "Why?" the girl asked, her big blue eyes never leaving his. Damon couldn't help answering truthfully, he never could resist those big blue eyes that resembled his own so much it was almost creepy. "Stefan tricked me into drinking vervain and planned to desiccate me. Zach tried to stop the girl whom I compelled to help me. So I killed and drained him to safe myself."

Damon expected many things, including his only living relative to start loathing him for what he had done. He expected yelling and tears. What he wasn't prepared for was her launching herself at him and embracing him in a fierce hug. "I'm so glad they didn't succeed!" the girl exclaimed desperately and buried her head in the crook of his neck.

Damon was stunned for a moment, but then he eased up and wrapped his arms around the girl. He should have known. This was his Eleanor, she never judged him no matter how bad his crime.

Eleanor hugged the vampire fiercely but then a terrifying thought entered her mind.

"Wait! Stop!" She pushed against the embrace, prying herself away from her vampire. "Zach was my only living relative. He was my legal guardian! What happens now? He...he...he was why I could come here! If he isn't here I have to leave! I have to go back! Oh no, oh no, no, no, no no." She dropped back onto the bed, pulling her legs close and burying her face, rocking herself softly.

Damon stared at her for a moment, amazed. He expected her to be distraught about her dead uncle, he even expected her to lash out, but instead she was worried about her own future whereabouts. One might think she was selfish, but knowing her story she really wasn't. Zach and her had never been close, he shipped her off to a mental institute after all. First chance he got, no less. After the death of both her parents she hadn't been closed to anyone… except for him, Damon.

Besides, she'd never been very compassionate. That's what made them so alike, what's made him care for her so much. She was very much like him. They didn't care for people in general. There was a select few who they felt for and they were fiercely loyal to those few, everyone else be damned. Even though she was a mere human she shared the same sentiment. If it isn't your loved one, the life isn't worse anything. That's what they had in common and the reason why she never judged him.

Damon took a deep breath before he hugged her, placing a finger under her chin to nudge her to look at him. "Hey, you'll always have a place to live here. As long as I live – and I don't plan on getting staked anytime soon – this is your home. You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to."

Eleanor returned the hug. "What if anyone asks? I need a legal guardian!". She was clearly still distraught, but he held her close and soothingly rubbed her back. "We'll deal with it. I can compel them. Nobody will take you away." It wasn't an empty promise either. Damon hadn't been happy with her being hospitalized but he didn't see a way around it. He was focused on getting Kathrine out of the tomb and his happily ever after. Now that reality hit him hard, he didn't see a reason not to care for his niece until she was old enough to do it herself.

"Now, will you be okay while I go to the dance to sniff out Klaus?" Damon pulled back when Eleanor calmed down and the girl nodded. "Be careful" she warned before leaving his room to head to her own bedroom. The unease from the urgent voices still hadn't left her, but knowing that Damon had her back helped her feel better and settle into her own room.

* * *

She still wasn't entirely calm. The whole Klaus situation combined with her messed up mind had her on edge. Eleanor knew that Alaric would be at the dance. Being a teacher it was his job. So naturally she was worried. Even though she tried for an early rest, sleep eluded her. So when after seemingly endless hours of silence there finally were signs of life in the house again, she shot up and wandered out of her room.

Eleanor paused on the stair's landing to listen. Hopefully without drawing attention to herself. She knew she couldn't fool the vampires, but hoped they would just ignore her presence. She was sure Damon wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to her. He respected her fears and need for privacy. Stefan...not so much, but Elena was crying, so her chances for going undetected didn't seem so bad.

To her relief everyone, especially Damon, looked unharmed, though Elena seemed to be suffering a great loss.

The young girl watched the drama below her unfold. Apparently Bonnie the witch had died and both Stefan and Elena blamed Damon for this, even though it was Klaus who did the deed. Eleanor's blood boiled when Elena slapped Damon across the face and she was ready to jump up and come to her favorite vampire's rescue when he revealed the truth to his brother and the grieving teen.

Bonnie faked her death to fool Klaus, who was indeed possessing Alaric's body. Damon kept it secret so Elena's reaction would be believable. Eleanor understood his reasoning, but of course Stefan was upset. He always was upset with his brother...

The girl didn't have much time to ponder over the new revelation, since Damon abruptly turned and left towards the staircase. Eleanor knew there was no point in running to her room. She'd never make it in time and chances were Damon already knew about her eavesdropping, so she only straightened up when he walked past her.

The vampire barely acknowledged the girl. "You were right" he muttered in passing, not in the least surprised by her presence. He knew she had been there the moment she left her room, but saw no reason to out her towards his brother and his girlfriend. And since she had witnessed the entire conversation she knew what he meant. Klaus posed as Alaric and fooled them all. All except Eleanor. But after Elena's and Stefan's accusations Damon wasn't in the right frame of mind to acknowledge that tidbit of information.

Eleanor was left reeling with that new information. What did it mean? Damon only knew that she got a weird vibe from the teacher, but the girl knew the truth. The voices had told her exactly what was going on. She knew Alaric was Klaus, even though at the time she didn't know what that meant.

Now she knew the information given by the voices at been extremely accurate. But did that mean that the voices were real? That there really was truth to what she heard? How else could her experience be explained?

With her mind a jumbled mess Eleanor dropped into bed and only fell asleep after countless repeats of the same thoughts circling around her mind. It was all so confusing.


End file.
